ONE LINE

ONE LINE
I’m remembering a class I taught at
Bohank Business School,
Poetry 101 –
The grading papers chore,
The mental anguish,
God. what a bore!
It seems that President Swink fancied himself
gifted
In the writing of verse
And as I’d been published –
Had a name of sorts, you see -
He’d upgrade Bohanks image -
Poetry 101 fell to me
This journeyman’s folly
Was considered a snap,
A way to fill out the transcript
Least amount of pain.
Nebulous text,
No mental strain
Imagine the skill of my students,
Among them not a three-point
Most were, like, car wash wash-outs or
“Welcome to Walmart, sir “
“Like fries with that?”
Minds a desperate blur
“Write an original poem”
I had instructed after weeks of
Stuffing the 30 with Longfellow, Auden
“Make it short,
No clichés, hates or
X-rated dates”
There was this one stud – Alex Smart –
I real wise guy was he,
Ass should have been an added last name
He would yawn
Ask dumb questions yawn
When I’d illuminate
He’d yawn add on
I’d graded 30, near given up for the night
Next in stack was Smart’s poem,
A ballad “Love’s Delight”
The first two stanzas were ho hum
I thought of his yawn angered
Night’s drudgery definitely done!
Then one line with…a…a just-fit word
Hit my mind like a soft beam of light
And I sought to recapture the title
Yes! “Love’s Delight”
Smart’s poem a delight
Just one line had made my night